Component 1 UE Coursework Apple Campus Themes: Juxtaposition/Contrast and Natural/Organic
• Maisie Bloxam
Brief:
•My project will be an Apple Campus, where students will be able to design, create and learn about products that Apple are producing and have produced in the past. •The campus will have an outdoor café on site where students and teachers can go to eat, drink or study. The café will have laptops free for students to hire whilst they are in there, so they are able to study even when they aren't in the learning departments. •There will be access via road in which anyone can drive into the campus as well as a 24-hour carpark which will be open for anyone to use. where the
Specification:
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The Apple Campus will include 4 different departments. The design department will be where ideas will be made into real life, giving people the opportunity to possibly design the next new product. The technology department will be where the inside of the devices are created. The making department is for the final development where the product is put together and ready to go in store. Finally there is the shop where all the products will be sold. There will be indoor and outdoor seating all around the campus where students are free to study at all times. An outdoor café will be open for students as well as teachers from the campus.
Architect – Antoni Gaudi Antoni Gaudí was a Catalan architect known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, one-of-a-kind Overall, he has designed over 14 building style. Most structures. His most famous being theofchurch which are located of Sagrada Familia. in Barcelona.
Casa Vicens Casa Vicens is a house in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí, now a museum. It is located in the neighborhood of Gràcia on Carrer de les Carolines,
Artigas Gardens The Artigas Gardens are a park in La Pobla de Lillet, Barcelona. Built between 1905 and 1906. Gaudí filled the gardens with arches and Catholic symbols.
Güell Pavilions The Pavellons Güell, or Güell Pavilions, is a complex of buildings in the neighborhood of Pedralbes, Barcelona, by the Catalan Modernist architect Antoni Gaudí, built between 1884 and 1887.
Casa Batllo Casa Batlló is a building in the center of Barcelona. It was designed by Antoni Gaudí, and is considered one of his masterpieces. A remodel of a previously built house, it was redesigned in 1904 by Gaudí and has been refurbished several times after that.
Sagrada Família The Basílica de la Sagrada Família, also known as the Sagrada Família, is a large unfinished Roman Catholic minor basilica in Barcelona, Catalonia. Designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, his work on the building is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Architect - Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his neofuturistic style. Saarinen is known for designing the Washington Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., the TWA Flight Center in New York City, and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.
TWA Flight Center The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
MIT Chapel The MIT Chapel is a non-denominational chapel designed by noted architect Eero Saarinen. It is located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge
Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a 630-foot monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch
Ingalls Rink David S. Ingalls Rink is a hockey rink in New Haven, Connecticut, designed by architect Eero Saarinen and built between 1953 and 1958 for Yale University.
Kresge Auditorium Kresge Auditorium is an auditorium structure at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located at 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Location: My building will be situated in London Covent Garden. I will be placing the Apple Campus where Kings College is. King's College currently has slightly over 30,000 students and over 7000 staff therefore is made big enough to house over that many people. My Apple Campus should be similar size to this as it will have many students. One of the main reasons I am doing this is because there are a lot of nearby train stations nearby, like Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Charing Cross and the closest being Temple. There are also bus stops dotted around the campus and streets which will be helpful for students as two are located right outside the entrance. As well as this, London tends to be a very busy area most of the time, meaning there is a higher chance of people attending the university and using the actual store.
Apple Headquarters: Researching the Apple Headquarters helped me develop ideas of what Apple's overall aesthetic is. As well as this it helped me think of different structure shapes for my Apple campus. From this research I know that Apple sticks to the plain modern design and doesn’t explore with colors, however what made this building stand out so much was the unique infinity loop shape. The Apple Headquarters is mainly for research and development purposes, and currently have over 12,000 employees. It includes Cafes, an Auditorium, a wellness center, a research and development facility as well as different modes of transport such as Bus, vehicles and cycling. As well as this there is Apple Campus visiting center in which has 4 main areas. The first being an Apple Store featuring Apple-branded merchandise (T-shirts, hats, tote bags, post cards) which aren't sold in store. It also has a cafÊ, an exhibition space which currently showcases a 3D model of Apple Park with augmented reality, and a roof terrace overlooking the campus.
Apple Products: Apple sells a range of products such as iPhone, Air Pods, iPads, Computers, Laptops, Watches, Speakers, Apple TV and many more. Apple tend to come out with multiple new products a year, whether that’s a new iPhone or a completely new product which is one of the main reasons why apple has such a large demographic. They come in a range of colors from Coral, Yellow, Blue, White, Black, Red , Rosegold, gold, silver and there are also a range of matte finishes. This shows how important color is to Apple therefore I aim to include it in my final design. I wanted to show these colors through the flower walls instead of making the actual walls itself colored, using the plants for this will give the area more life and character.
Apple Logo:
The “bitten apple” is the logo of the well-known computer manufacturer Apple Inc. It is one of the easily recognizable logos in the whole wide world, a fitting symbol to the name of the company behind the picture.
Campus buildings: Since my project is an Apple Campus, I thought it would be a good idea to research what a campus actually is and what it should contain. A campus is the grounds of a college or university, which tends to have a number of different buildings aimed for different departments or subjects.
The separate buildings will be used for the different departments of Apple. There will be a designing block where students will go to create new products or possibly a new update or feature. This is where all the new ideas are created. There is the making department where all the ideas come to life. Students can make models, drawings and prototypes here of their ideas. As well as these, there is the learning block. This is where lectures will be held, where they are taught how the mechanisms of the apple products work and why they are created this way. There are also rooms for quiet study such as a library. There will be an Apple Store on campus available to everyone for any purchases, in which the store will sell all Apple products. The campus will have an outdoor café on site where students and teachers can go to eat, drink or study. The café will have laptops free for students to hire whilst they are in there, so they are able to study even when they aren't in the learning departments.
The pictures above show examples of campus layouts which I will be using as inspiration in my design.
Layered/stacked buildings: The reason why I decided to research layered buildings is because all the Apple stores I see tend to be a plain box shape, I think by making the building have layered rooms would give the Apple Campus more structure and stand out compared to other learning facilities like universities.
The building in the picture above stood out to me a lot during my research process. This is because it appealed to me how they made every single wall stick out a different length which really made the building look quite geometric and edgy.
Something I found interesting when researching layered buildings was that most of them were made from pure glass which I thought was a good idea for natural lighting throughout the day, saving electricity.
Finding a way to stack my building may be difficult as ill need it to include space for the different departments. For this idea I am going to take inspiration from the structure on the left. This is because it is very similar to my original idea of having separate stacked rooms upon one another.
Experimenting with building layouts: Since Apple is the company, I am designing a building for, I decided to play around with the logo and produce different model ideas based on the shape of an apple. Even though from ground level this buildng will seem like a normal structure, from a birdseye-view this campus will look like a dissected apple. This is a unique feature to this building only which makes it stand out from any other. One of the most important things a campus must have are different departments. This is because they are mostly for education purposes so it's something, I had to make sure was part of the design. So, from the drawing of the apple logo I started to play around with cutting it into different sectors and shapes and came out with this design.
The structure on the left is actually a building at a university campus so its relevant to what I'm designing. I liked the style and shape of this building as it looks modern and newly built, which Considering I mustis the aesthetic have multipleI want to go for. in one space buildings using a simple rectangle shape will ensure that I could fit them all in. Going along with the idea of rectangular shaped buildings I decided to try stacking them. I made each one a different size just so it gave the building more dimension and an asymmetrical plan. The only problem with this design is that there would be lots of excess space around it that would be put to waste. Even though I do like the overall idea
Glass Architecture:
This Apple Store is located in New York City and is famous for its glass structure and how the store itself is completely underground and hidden.
This building the "Leonardo Glass Cube" which is located in Bad Dryburgh, Germany was made to represent modern architecture. The reason why this building caught my eye was because of the interior design. The whole of the inside is white however the color of lighting can change which gives the building a whole different aesthetic. Having color is important to have as part of my design, so I decided to look at stained glass structures as well as normal glass. I think that if you pick the right colors it can be really eye catching.
Stained glass window model: I made this model to test out what a building would look like with stained glass windows. The use of color is a huge part of the aesthetic of the building and I think using glass to show this would give the building a very modern look considering most buildings built now are made from glass, for example workplaces in London. One thing I wanted to test out with this model was if the colors of the glass reflected on the inside of the building. Which is one of the reasons why I used white foam board for the main structure of the model, just so the colors could show up clearly. If I was to use stained glass in my final design I would use colors that are relevant to Apple, like the colors of the iPhones which are shown on slide 5 and 14. I think this will be one of the stand out features of the building along with the living architecture wall, which will also be colored to match the windows. On the right-hand side of the page are sketches of buildings with different styles of stained-glass windows. I want the glass to be on the outside of the building so when the sun shines on it reflects the colours inside the building.
Outdoor Seating: Outdoor seating is one of the main things that should be on a campus and so I have decided that my final design must include this. There has to be an area where students are free to sit outside study, eat and socialise. These pictures and sketches are different examples of outdoor seating in which I will use these as inspiration my stood final design. This seatingfor area out to me the most as I thought the design was very unique. It has a grass area where students are free to sit around, as well as having benches attached. So, it is practical as well as looking good. I think I am going to try and include as many different styles of seating as possible just so there are lots of variation. Obviously in rainy weather conditions these seating areas won't be used by students so there will be an indoor study area as well. Even though I want the environment and nature to be included in my design I think fake grass/astroturf would be the best option for this. If the grass area is mainly used for seating students won't want to be sitting on mud. As well as this, if it was raining it's likely that the grass would get ruined so I think AstroTurf would be the The model on the right is a mix best option. between each of the seating designs that I researched. It is a leveled seating area with steps going all the way up, each one having a platform of grass on it free for people to study, eat and socialise on. Each one will be able to fit about 15 to 20 students. So there will be multiple of these placed in and around campus.
This type of area is also very practical. The stairs will be used to get from one building to another and the grass can be used as a seating area. This will save a lot of room around the campus as you won't need two separate spaces for seating and stairs.
Coloured Buildings: The reason why I chose to look further into colored buildings is because I want the Apple Campus to stand out as much as possible and really attract people to visit or chose to study there. Most university or college campuses are a plain brick or stone structure and don’t tend to experiment with new materials, patterns or colors. So, I want to try and introduce a wide range of colours and materials into my model. Even though I won't be making the walls a solid colour like the photos are showing I am using these pictures as inspiration and to give me some sort of direction of how I can incorporate colour In to the building without it being over the top.
Primary Research – Coloured buildings Apple stores tend to be just white, so to make mine different from all over apple buildings I've decided to introduce colours into mine, specifically the colours of the iPhones. Therefore I chose to go to Neal's Yard as part of my primary research. It is mainly brightly coloured buildings that have been painted in a very random pattern. Buildings in London tend to be neutral tones, so the use of colour makes it stand out from any other building. As well as going to Neal's Yard I strolled around London and happened to find multiple coloured shops painted yellow, orange, blue etc. Most of them were down the little alley way streets and stood out from all other shops on that row.
Neal's Yard – Covent Garden
Camden – Covent Garden
Westminster – West End
Westminster Soho
Primary Research –Natural and Organic Structures: For my primary research I used one of the main themes in my project, nature, which I thought would have the most impact on my design. Using primary research can be quite challenging and time-consuming however overall it gives me a great opportunity to develop my ideas. A great thing about having primary research is that it's my own personal data that I have found so it means my ideas will be unique. Since I had a range of pictures, I picked the two I thought had most potential in turning into a building type structure, which turned out to be the pink bottom left and the green bottom middle. At this time, apples stores hardly have any part of nature incorporated into it and tend to stick to the plain design using neutral colors like black, white, grey and wood tones. However they have only just started putting trees in store, I think this isn't enough. By adding more elements of nature, color and life into stores it will attract more people as well as align with apples colorful products like the iPhones which is their most popular item. A reason why I chose to photograph these flowers is because of the second theme in my work which is contrast. I am showing this using color contrast. I am going to keep Apples current aesthetic however I am going to be adding a pop of color using plants.
Primary Research –Natural and Organic Structures: One of my main themes in my project is Natural and Organic. In my design I will be including living Architecture which is why I decided to research different brightly colored plants to give me an overall idea of what I want to include in my design. As well as natural and organic , color and contrast is another one of the other main themes. The colors of these plants and flowers have given me ideas of the types of color and the aesthetic I want my building to have. From my research I have discovered that Apple uses there colors not in stores but on the products, which is one reason why apple products stand out to a large audience.
The centre of the flower (circle) is the main part of the buildings where you can access all the other departments. This is also where the cafĂŠ would be placed.
The petals around the outside of the flower represent the different departments that the Apple Campus will have. There will be two departments of learning, two of creating and one of designing.
The gaps between the buildings are seating and eating areas. They can also be used as a learning and studying area. The outdoor/greenery represents leaves and nature around the plants represented by the buildings.
The reason why I chose this picture to develop was because of the odd shapes of the leaves and the fact they range from several different sizes. As soon as I looked at this picture that I took I knew that I could maybe turn the different leaves into the different departments that will be included in my building, so I started to play around with paper creating different shapes similar to my picture and drawings.
Since nature is a huge theme throughout my work, I wanted to make sure I could include it in as many ways as possible, not just placing flowers in the rooms. From my primary research I am using the plants I photographed as a base shape for the building and trying to create as many different designs as possible, which gives me the opportunity to expand my ideas when it comes to the final design. I created a model of my drawings and photographed it in many different angles so it's clear to see the building from all sides and shows the scale between the building and people as well as trees.
Living Architecture: Living Architecture is the combination of living systems within or on a building. This includes green walls, living walls (interior and exterior). Most of these living walls tend to have flowers on them not only does this add colour to the building but it adds character and life, possibly attracting more people. Apple stores are plain and neutral in colour so adding something like plants and flowers on and around the building would take away the lifeless modern look and make the building more attractive. Even though I wanted to add more nature into the building I think using fake plants would be the best option. If I used real plants, they would attract bugs, as well as not lasting long and eventually dying, which wouldn't give the bright colourful look I want overall. Some Apple Stores like the one in Covent Garden and Regent Street have some form of plant in them, like trees but I want to take this to the next level and add some colour into the picture. I think using colours in buildings could be too much, however if the colours are chosen correctly and they correspond with the company I think it can make the building have a pleasing aesthetic.
Primary Research – Living Architecture:
Santa Nata - Covent Garden One of my main ideas for the Apple Campus is introducing nature. Apple stores tend to be plain and very neutral and I think bringing organic features into the building with give it some vibrancy and life, possibly attracting more people to go there. The reason why I chose to picture the 'Santa Nata' buildings was because the bright yellow flowers placed around the borders of the building caught my attention and stood out compared to every other store on that street.
Covent Garden – Offices Living Architecture is a feature I wanted to include in my building, even though mine will be mostly on inside walls I still thought this building would help develop my ideas when creating the Apple Campus.
St Martins Courtyard – Leicester Square This building also stood out to me a lot. The contrast from the black building and the bright pink, yellow and green plants brought the building to life, this helps me with my design as one of my themes are colour contrast. One thing I realised about using living architecture is that real plants will eventually die as well as attract insects, so for my building I will look into using fake plants, so it stays good at all times.
Recording different styles of Apple stores:
Regent Street, London
Regent Street, London
Regent Street, London
Thailand, Bangkok
Primary Research – Apple Store:
Apple Store – Covent Garden The reason why this Apple store stood out to be the most is because of the plants dotted around the room. When I was originally researching Apple stores, I found out that most of the stores now include these features. As you can see from the image above Apple tends to stick with neutral tones such as white, black and brown.
Apple Store – Covent Garden Even though the outside of this Apple store is quite aesthetically pleasing to look at because of the neutral tones, I believe there should brighter colors used to attract and stand out to more potential customers.
Apple Store – Covent Garden Apple's products tend to have a plain and simple look and structure to them. This building could possibly represent these products with the rectangular shape and the curvature of these stairs could relate to the logo of Apple, in which they contrast.
Model Making: I got inspiration to use the circular structure from the Apple Headquarters that I researched. I started off by balancing the objects together to see what I could make from it and how I could possibly relate the model to a building.
I played around with stacking the circular objects in a random pattern, so the building is less symmetric. As well as this, I wrapped metal chord around the building so that more materials were being used. I then used wooden blocks that are all different shapes and sizes that I stacked together to make a geometric shaped building.
Model Making:
Model Making: This model is made from a hardcardboard material making it easier to layer and balance them.
The area with the fences is for seating/viewing with possible fake grass area.
The stained glass on the roof of the buildings will allow the sun to shine through colours into the rooms.
Buildings stacked on top each other representing the different departments.
Model Making: I like the fact that the model is asymmetric as it gives it more irregularity and structure to the building. Connecting each building are a set of stairs as well as a lift if people aren't able to use the stairs. Under the over-hanging section of the building could be a seating area.
For this model I stacked carboard rings to represent a building. I only need about four departments for the final building so have all of those rings wouldn’t have been practical. So, I decided to get rid of the top one and make it into the café, as the café will not be attached to main building.
One issue with this building could be that it is not taking up enough room where I said the location would be, which means that there would be lots of left-over space that would be wasted. To resolve this issue I could make multiple different stacked buildings, since it’s a university there will need to be more studying space.
Café Research – Peggy Porschen: The flowers on the right are the decorations that are used above the doors to entrance of the café. They are changed for seasonal times, for example at Christmas they have baubles in the flowers.
Peggy Porschen, located in London, Kings Cross is one of the most well-known cafes of London. Its known for its use of bright pink throughout and its constant theme of flowers and nature. It is a chic bakery featuring creative cupcakes, fancy cakes and other sweet treats, plus tea and champagne. This café uses a wide range of shades of pink throughout the whole building as well as through the treats and drinks. I think the main target audience for this café is about ages 17+ and can be for boys and girls.
Exterior Café Design:
The outdoor Café will be available for students and teachers. It is a study, relax and social where students are free to hire and use computers. There will be a seating area inside and out to hold maximum amount of people. The café will be able to hold around 50 to 60 people as this is what the average café holds. I think it's very important that a university campus has a café on site. If there wasn’t, students would have to leave the campus for food which could encourage them to skip their lectures. I want the café to have a sort of urban look to it as I think they it's most relevant to a younger audience.
Interior Café Design:
The interior design of the Café should be brightly coloured this is because colours like yellow and orange make you feel awake and energised. Neutral tones like grey and white make you feel more relaxed, so this could also be a viable option. Darker tones like black wouldn’t work as they usually make you feel tired. The inside should be big enough to sit around 35 people, with tables range from 2 seats to 6 seats. Charging ports will be available at most spaces allowing people to charge their devices.
Possible CafĂŠ Designs:
Starting to design my final model: I thought it would be more practical if the building was supported by poles and stilts. This is to give the building more balance as its tall. I started by using a sheet of cardboard and cutting a circle out of it the size that I wanted the main buildings to be. I then measured out the sheet of paper to match the size of the cardboard cutout and stuck them together. This is the birds-eye-view of the model from above. I decided to make the top cover of cardboard slightly larger than the rest of the model, this was so the building has more balance when adding on the other layers. Then, I moved onto the next layer and started to stack them. Possible design for the living architecture wall.
Final Model Exterior:
Overall, for my final design I wanted to use as One of my main features I wanted to makeAs well as this, I wanted the Apple Campus to many features of my research and design ideas sure was included in my final creation was have an assymetric design, so I made the as possible to achieve the best and most to have a natural/organic feature. I found building sections layer and stick out at practical design for the Apple Campus. This that using plants and flowers was the mostdifferent widths. I think this gives the building would allow me to create the most unique successful and contributed to the buildings'more structure to it instead of making design through size, shape and colour to have aesthetic perfectly. (The flower walls are everything line up perfectly which wouldn’t maximum effect on the surroundings and shown in green on the models). make the Apple Campus stand out to any visitors. other campus.
It is clear in my model that there are different departments which my Apple Campus had to include. Places of education tend to have different buildings for subjects or places to study. Purple – Making department. Blue – Design Department Orange – Technology Department Yellow – Study Area
Since the building is fairly tall and the departments are layered on top of each other I wanted to give the building more support so I used stilts/poles under each one to hold it up. Even though, it may make the building look less like its floating, its important that the building is fully secure to the ground. Around that area will be outdoor seating, where students are free to sit, do work and socialise. It is under shelter so its still practical even if its raining or isn’t great weather. As well as this, If students aren’t happy to sit outside, the ground floor of the building can be used as a study area. Not only this, students are able to use all departments throughout the day just in case other areas are busy or unavailable. There are stair and lift access connecting each department which are located at the back of each section so they are easy to find. Each floor has all gender toilets as well as disabled toilets. One thing I would improve about the design of the main building is that the roof is very underwhelming. Even though you will not see it that often unless your flying above it, I still think it could have a pattern or maybe even be glass as I did research glass buildings and not include this feature as much.
Final CafĂŠ Design:
I decided to add the stained-glass windows onto the café instead of the main campus building. This is because the main building has the living walls as part of it and I thought it would have been too over-powering if they had both. Overall, I am very happy with how the café turned out however I do have some changes I would make for the future to make it even better than it is. Even though the café is covered in bright colours I think the actual design of it is very plain and uninspiring.
I personally think I could have come up with a more complex idea when designing the café. I could have done this by researching different shapes and styles of outdoor café to give me better ideas. However as the main building was the most important, I focused on the design of this more than the actual café itself. The colours around the outside are stained glass and the colours on the roof are just painted instead. The reason why I have done this is because the reflections of the colours from the roof may distract students or may take away the fact that’s it’s a cafe that can be used for studying or relaxing. One thing I think I did well when designing this café is choosing the correct size for it. I wanted the café to sit at least 30 to 35 people which my café definitely has achieved. There is indoor and outdoor seating so the café can sit maximum amount of people. Another thing that I think went well with the café is that the colours I chose were relevant to apple. I picked the colours of the iPhones for the windows and roof.
Final Design of campus and cafĂŠ:
Evaluation: Initially I knew that this design project was going to be a challenge, as I set myself a difficult a brief and specification. In this I had to identify what I was designing, the function of the building, what I must include and incorporating this with a chose theme, mine being nature and juxtaposition. In terms of my final design, I believe that I have made an appropriate and practical structure that has included all things stated in my brief. I wanted to use a living wall for the nature element, and bright colours for the juxtaposition. The main reason why I was adamant to have these in my design is because Apple Stores and University Campus' have no life in them, they are plain in colour as well as material, so I knew this was one change I had to make when designing my Apple Campus. Most university campus' have multiple departments for different subjects or activities, so this was very important that I continued this idea on. The Apple Campus includes a design department, making/sculpting, technology and study area. In which, there are multiple seating areas in and around campus, that being in the cafĂŠ, outside the buildings and on the ground level of the main building. I enjoyed using different types of glass design in my structure, like the stained glass for example. I think using this feature gave a really unique look to my building as well as allowing the visitors and students to have a great view of the river Thames, as it's located right next to campus which enhances the users experience. In terms of my research, I think it's clear that I got the majority of my inspiration from the layered structures. This allowed me to think deeply about how to make my bulding stand out from any other, not only by using colour but by structure design too. If I was to design this again, I think I would need to do more research and take inspiration from more architects. By looking at their work I can get more information about what does and doesn't work in a building and how the tiniest detail makes the biggest difference. For location, I think I chose a relevant space as a campus is already there, however my design doesn't fit in with its surroundings, so I'd maybe change the chosen location to somewhere where it's less compacted.
PART 2 OF COMPONENT 1
Brief: I am going to redevelop a building close to the Apple Campus. Since the campus is close to the River Thames, I am going design a restaurant that’s on the edge of it, looking over the water. Since I already designed a café that’s on the campus site, I think it would be helpful to have a restaurant nearby too that students can go to for dinner, as at that time the café would be shut. There are lots of areas of green nearby the river however I don’t want to destroy nature for the restaurant, so I will be placing it above the underground train station 'Temple'. London is a populated area, and there are many workplaces all around so this restaurant will be used by everyone, not just students from the Apple Campus.
Specification: My design must include: • Indoor seating • Outdoor seating (preferably in a shaded area) • Kitchen • Toilets • Stairs to the restaurant (as its on top of station) • Disabled access (lift or ramp) • Viewing area over River Thames • Different styles of seating, bench, individual tables • Waiting area (where you will wait to be seated) • Living Architecture/Hanging plants
Researching restaurants in London:
On this Sketch Up model I was playing around with different shapes and sizes for the seating pod. With my drawings I was looking at how different shaped pods would affect the seating inside. If the pod was a half circle you wouldn’t be able to fit as many people in as you would if it was a square shape, so if I do use this feature in my restaurant, I will need to make sure it's actually practical and not wasted space.
This restaurant is called the 'Coppa Club'. It is located in Tower Bridge and is on the edge of the River Thames. I decided to research this restaurant because of the unique style of outdoor seating, which are called pods. You are able to hire these out which are at a higher cost than sitting inside. They have a range of seating in them, from benches around the outside, dining tables and lounge seating. This design stood out to me as it's something ive never seen in a restaurant before and it could possibly be something I take inspiration from and use in my final design however; I will have to research this more to see if it will work with my restaurant's aesthetic. Since my restaurant is also located on the edge of the river and is levelled higher up since it's on the top of a station, having a feauture like this could create a great view of London which could be the stand-out feature and possibly attract more people to eat there.
In my drawings I have shown the typical shape of restaurants in London. I think the reason why these rectangles are used is because you are able to fit maximum amount of people in their allowing the restaurant to seat more people.
These are multiple examples of restaurants in London, and it's clear that they have a very bleak exterior design. They also have a staright box-like structure which is what I want to steer away from. Since the location of my restaurant is fairly open plan, I have the opportunity to make the shape unique however the restaurants shown in the pictures are made to fit in a certain space, so it restricts them in the design process.
These are a few examples of outdoor seating of restaurants. Ideally, I would like the restaurant I am designing to have a sheltered outdoor, as London's weather can be unpredictable.
The use of colour in restaurants: I think by using colour in certain places in the room, like on furniture can give off a very aesthetically pleasing look, however using it all over the room could make it overpowering and childish. So in my design I must make sure I do not overwhelm the customers with tons of bright colours. I want the restaurant I am designing to have a fairly modern and sophisticated design, as it will mostly be used by university students and workers in London. Modern designs tend to be neutral in colour using whites, blacks, greys and wood tones. However, I want to include a pop of colour throughout the restaurant, as one of my main themes are contrast of colours. Certain colours can create a psychological mood or feeling. So for instance yellow and orange are supposed to make you feel hungry. Greens represent natual, organic and healthy foods.
Similar to the image on the left, I like the fact that only the furniture is coloured, and the walls are kept plain.
To the left and above, are a few examples of restaurants that have used the yellow, orange and green colour scheme, which is smart as they make people feel hungry, meaning customers are most likely to purchase more food. However, I think the colour picked should represent and compliment the food served or the type of restaurant it is, as it may not have any relevance. For example, if a restaurant/cafe was known for selling healthy foods it would make sense to use tones of green. As well as this, I think colour can be relevant to different cultures. Like Chinese restaurants tend to be associated with reds and golds. However, since my restaurant will be selling all types of food there isn't a certain colour I should use, I want to try and use yellows and oranges.
Wire Model: Maman – Is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. It was made to represent her mother, with metaphors of spinning, weaving, nurture and protection. Infact, there are a total of seven of these spider sculptures around the world, some being in Sweden, Canada, Spain, Germany and Mexico City. In the slide before, I was researching arched-shape figures and came across this model of a crouching spider, and I could see how the spider's legs created a dome-like structure. I started this model by using a metal wire and twisting and turning it around itself to make random shapes. I then moved some of the wires, so they were elevated to make a more dimensional structure, at this point it started to look more like the spider sculptures, and something I could use as a potential restaurant shape or seating area.
Model Making: Yellow - Outdoor Seating Area Green - Indoor Seating Orange - Toilets Blue - Kitchen Where the dotted lines are shows where the roof isn't flat, and where the bends are.
I made this model using foam board and thin metal wire. I got inspiration to do this model from my research of the 'Maman' the spider statue. With this model I will try and turn it into what could be some sort of building or restaurant. The different materials I have used for this model will help me show where there are different sections of the building.
Location of the restaurant:
In my drawings, I have shown where the restaurant will be located and the space it will need to fit in. I have drawn my previous model in this space to see if it would work. Since the space gets thinner, I may also have to do this with the shape of the restaurant so that its symmetrical with the roof of the station and fits in the space better without wasting any space. One of the main reasons why I chose to use this space for the restaurant is because of the location. It's very close to the college so it's easy to access, its nearby the river so it has great views, as well as this it’s a large area of space that isn't currently in use meaning it wouldn’t be in the way of anything. Since the restaurant is on top of the station there will need to be lift access as well as stairs. In the image on the left, is a model of the restaurant on top of the station, the glass bit should be a dome shape however I couldn't do this feature on SketchUp. From doing this model I now know that the outdoor seating area needs to be made smaller so that its fits better in with the space.
From doing this model I have decided that this feature doesn’t work with the aesthetic I was going for with the restaurant. Personally, I think it makes the restaurant look unprofessional and messy. Since the outdoor seating area is inclosed I think it makes the space look smaller and cramped so, I'd like to change to make it more open plan, which I could do by making it an over-hanging roof/umbrella style shelter.
Merging Previous Ideas: Using the wire, spider leg look from my previous models, I decided I wanted to try it in a canopy style roof. I didn’t want to restrict myself with the dome shape connecting to the floor, so I found elevating it off the ground was more practical and looks more attractive.
In the sketches below I have shown where I have turned the model into a potential design for the restaurant. Using the wire I have created a canopy to cover the outdoor seating area and have used the foam block for the main body of the building.
Final Model Exterior:
Evaluation:
Overall I am very happy with how the restaurant turnt out, I included everything that was needed on the specification, including the themes from my previous project of the Apple Campus. This allowed me to achieve the best possible outcome and design for the restaurant. I used long strips of thick glass as the canopy shelter for the outdoor seating area. They are made into different shapes and sizes and each overlap each other, leaving no gaps meaning it’s a fully functioning roof. This feature was one of the main things my restaurant had to have, this was because of the location, looking over the River Thames and across London was a big stand out feature so I wanted to make sure customers would have access to this view from the restaurant. I think that using the glass beams was a unique touch and makes my restaurant stand out compared to others as they don’t have these features. I chose to use glass for the canopy as I wanted to have natural lighting coming through to the seating area. In the previous design of the Apple Campus, one of main themes was living architecture and nature, so I wanted to make sure the restaurant had this theme as well. However, in this design I didn’t want the plants to cover the entire wall, I only wanted a small portion of the design to be dedicated to nature. This is why I made the hanging plants only connect to the front-facing windows. One of the main reasons why I believe my design process has been successful is because I have covered and checked off everything that was put on my specification list. However, if I was to do this project again, I think I need to research more restaurants and how their layout works. There are many different sections to this restaurant that had to be included. Those of which are: Orange - Indoor Seating Yellow - Outdoor Seating Green - Canopy Shelter Blue - Access to restaurant (stairs and lift) Purple – Kitchen
Final Interior Design:
These are a few snapshots of the interior of the restaurant. As you can see the design is fairly simple, this is because I wanted to keep the design modern by using neutral colours. The walls on these images look grey, however they are more of an off-white colour. I wanted to stick to a fairly neutral colour palette as I have a lot going on outside the building in terms of structure and design.
I didn’t have a lot of time to design this model so if I had more time, I would definitely look into how I could develop the restaurant even more whether that’s by adding different elements in or changing the design. However I am very happy with how this turnt out as it includes every-thing I needed it too. The interior is very basic so I would like to add a lot more detail into that if I could do it again.